Wednesday 26 January 2022 7:52 am | Updated: Wednesday 26 January 2022 8:05 am

Wizz Air pursues expansion as losses deepen

Wizz Air has cut its targets for annual profit as issues with its GTF engines, supplied by Pratt & Whitney, continue to impact capacity.

Wizz Air doubled losses in the third quarter as it expanded its workforce and fleet amid travel disruption spurred by Omicron.

As passenger numbers soared from 2.2m to 7.8m in the three months to 31 December the company ordered hundreds of new airplanes and grew its work force to exceed pre-pandemic levels. The European airline reported losses of €267.5m (£223.6m), down by 129.8 per cent compared to the same period last year as the company was buffeted by rising costs and inflationary pressures, which saw the price of fuel jump by 22.9 per cent.

“Wizz Air continued its recovery during the third quarter of F22 and well exceeded 2019 passenger and capacity levels in the peak holiday traveling period, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant,” said Wizz Air chief executive József Váradi.

“Our operating loss was €213.6 million as travel restrictions continued to affect demand as we continued to ramp up our workforce, fleet, bases and routes to support our path to full utilisation and pre-Covid 19 cost structure by late Spring 2022. Our liquidity remained strong and closed at €1.4 billion at the end of December 2021,” Váradi added.

Amid a challenging business environment due to the Omicron variant, airport, en route and handling costs increased by 224.3 per cent to €155.3m while staff costs were up by 85.7 per cent at €61.8m.

Despite the challenging operating environment, Wizz Air pushed ahead with its growth strategy, ordering 196 new Airbuses in November with the bulk of deliveries scheduled for 2025 onwards. A month later, Wizz Air acquired a portfolio of slots at London Gatwick airport that will enable the company to grow its base of five aircrafts and increase access to the British market.

The company continued its investment in recruitment and training, bringing in more than 1,500 talented people since the start of June, bringing the team to 5,550 employees, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Váradi said “despite the short-term headwinds,” the company is “cautiously optimistic for a continued recovery” into Spring and Summer and explaining that the company made additional purchases in order “to take advantage of the market created in the wake of COVID-19.”